St. Matthew Lutheran Church Celebrates 75 Years
August Dedicated to Relationship with TMC

The membership at St. Matthew Lutheran Church has dedicated each month of their 75th anniversary year to honor individuals and groups that have had an affiliation with the church.

August has been dedicated to the Texas Medical Center, and throughout the month, services will focus on the relationship between St. Matthew and the Texas Medical Center.

The anniversary committee at St. Matthew chose to honor the Texas Medical Center because in addition to the close proximity of the two institutions, many of the church's members work, volunteer, or receive treatment at TMC institutions.

"The whole month, we are honoring the Texas Medical Center community," said Rob Johnson, anniversary committee chair. "We want to invite the Texas Medical Center community to attend one of our services this month."

One of the major ties that bind St. Matthew and the Texas Medical Center is the chapel, built 25 years ago, at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Edward Mahnke, a visitation pastor who calls on St. Matthew members who are sick or shut-in, spent 12 years working as a chaplain and educator in M. D. Anderson's Department of Chaplaincy and Pastoral Education until his retirement in 1988.

"That chapel was built on faith," said Dr. Mahnke. "They must be singing hallelujahs in heaven when I think of the men who envisioned the M. D. Anderson chapel. They started with nothing, didn't have a dime in the bank, and built it for $650,000."

The money was raised through a bank loan and private donations. Two people who made significant contributions were noted TMC philanthropists John Dunn and John Freeman. No state funds were used.

The idea for the chapel hatched as local preachers and lay people noticed that there were Methodist, Episcopal, and other groups represented in Houston hospitals, but there was no Lutheran representation.

"Lutherans are strong in hospital work around the country," Dr. Mahnke said. "So they decided that they wanted to put together something which would have a Lutheran stamp on it."

They decided against building a hospital because it was financially risky at the time. Instead, the Lutheran Hospital Association decided to help M. D. Anderson build a new hospital pavilion and chapel. They then needed to hire and place a chaplain who could train other chaplains in Clinical Pastoral Education, or CPE.

Dr. Mahnke was the man for the job.

"I was in Minneapolis at the time," said Dr. Mahnke. "Dr. Harms, who was president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at the time, took me out to dinner one night and he said, `Are there many pastors around who have your certification?' (I was one of only three or four in the United States who was certified for this type of training.) He said, `How many of them would like to move to Houston?' Not many of them did, because they had good jobs. I was the campus Lutheran pastor at the University of Minnesota. I figured I could either accept the challenge, or coast down the hill into retirement."

Dr. Mahnke said it was a toss up. He wanted to be a part of the challenge the Houston ministry would offer, but at the same time was not sure if he wanted to leave Minnesota.

"I loved Minnesota. I could fish there. Twenty minutes after I finished work I could be on a lake. I liked the cool weather - I didn't always like the cold."

Dr. Mahnke said he mulled it over, and came to Houston for a tour and to look at the plans.

"I was impressed, he said. "This hospital was big - it was impressive, it was the cancer center of the world."

The 1974 agreement between M. D. Anderson and the Lutheran Hospital Association established an endowment, which provided stipends for CPE scholars. Also resulting was the Chaplaincy and Pastoral Education Department.

"The synod finally issued a call, and the call came to me to come down and join the staff, said Dr. Mahnke. "There was a great arrangement worked out with Dr. R. Lee Clark, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center's surgeon in chief. There was no chaplaincy department at the time, and this arrangement provided for it."

Dr. Mahnke said Dr. Clark worried that there might be a conflict between church and state, as M. D. Anderson is a state institution, and that the chaplains might try to convert patients. Dr. Mahnke assured him that would not happen.

The M. D. Anderson chaplaincy navigated the line between church and state by asking the different denominations if they would also provide qualified hospital chaplains, with the stipulation that they would foot the bill. This way, the state would not have to pay for the service. The other denominations agreed.

In November 1976, the interdenominational chapel was dedicated. Today, regular services are held in the chapel's sanctuary and broadcast through the hospital's closed-circuit television system. Offices and classrooms are also provided for the chaplains.

Dr. Mahnke said after six months, Dr. Clark came to him and said, "I didn't think it would work. I was sure everybody would go around trying to create new church members, but you have just ministered to the needs these people have. This support is exactly what we needed."

"At his retirement party, he came over to me, put his arm around me and said, `I can't tell you how pleased I am that we got that department started.' R. Lee Clark became one of my best friends," Dr. Mahnke said.

Dr. Mahnke is not the only St. Matthew member to have a Texas Medical Center connection. St. Matthew's current pastor, Rev. John Stelling, spent 15 years as an M. D. Anderson chaplain. Church member Donald Nordwall worked for the Houston VA Medical Center's purchasing and contracting department from 1962 until his 1978 retirement. Nordwall also volunteered for many years at M. D. Anderson, wheeling patients down to Sunday worship services in the chapel.

Of the many stories that can be told, these are only a few Texas Medical Center experiences St. Matthew church members have had. Those interested in hearing more about the history between these two longstanding neighbors are invited to attend Sunday worship services throughout the month of August. Services are held at both 8 and 10 a.m.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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